Chapter 34

With nothing to do the group checked the weapons and equipment. The news from command said the Allies had established a beachhead in Italy but German resistance was strengthening.

For three days the mountains resounded to the crack of thunder and lightning as a storm lashed them with sheets of heavy rain. The temperature dropped and the men sat shivering in the cave, despite having a roaring fire. Andrias and Dave brought their food from the women’s cave rather than risk them due to the rock falls that were frequently happening.

Shaun sat huddled in his sheepskin RAF flying jacket, listening to the storm that raged outside the cave. The rest of the men except John, who was fiddling with the radio, were lying in their beds covered with their blankets.

“It’s no good Skip, this storm is stopping any reception,” John admitted.

Shaun nodded “Okay John, get some rest, I’ll make us all a coffee.”

The storm blew out during the night of the third day. Outside the cave the bright sunlight warmed the rocks and ground creating spirals of steam.

Shaun scanned the area through his binoculars. The path had almost disappeared through landslides and rock falls. He moved to one side as Maria along with around twenty of the other women went past armed with picks and shovels.

Andrias had a word with her before she passed. He shrugged his shoulders turning to Shaun. “I asked if she needed our help. She said no, they are used to doing this.”

They moved back into the cave as yet another group of women passed.

It was almost 1 in the afternoon when Alexis staggered into the cave, his face was red through exertion, and he was sweating profusely. “The Germans are coming up the path. They are about two hours behind me,” he managed to say before collapsing on to a bed. John gave him a drink of water before he continued. “They spotted the women clearing the path and now they all are coming to find them.”

“How many are there, Alexis?” Shaun asked.

“I think about 18, 12 were recalled to Tyropolis Just before the storm started,” he managed to say.

“Are the radio operators with them?” Alexis shook his head.

Shaun thought fast. “Dave get back to the village and take them prisoner since we need them alive. Cookie and John, grab the Brens plus we’ll need some grenades. Alexis is there any part of the path which will cause them to bunch up?”

Alexis nodded, “About half a kilometre back down there is only room for one man at a time to pass.”

The men were gathering up their weapons. Dave had already left. Shaun handed a MP40 and six clips to Alexis, “You will have to guard the women in case they get past us,” he said grimly.

They found the narrow passage of the path and cautiously went through it. At the other side of it, the pathway widened out. Cookie and John took up positions a hundred yards apart, whilst Shaun, Prof, and Andrias hid between them. Shaun could hear the Germans as they came up the pathway laughing and joking and prayed Dave had managed to avoid them.

Suddenly he saw them, they were strung out, most breathing heavily with sweat running down their faces. The leaders stopped when they reached the narrow passage, allowing the rest to catch up with them. They appeared to be in their thirties, big rough looking brutes, typical of the Waffen-SS.

They were arguing who would be first through the narrow passage. Shaun pulled out the pin from a grenade and lobbed it into their midst. With the explosion Cookie and John opened up with the Brens in a sustained burst of fire. Screams and groans erupted from the Germans as they were cut down. It was all over within twenty seconds. The SS laying in heaps, one or two were still screaming, as Shaun climbed to his feet.